Integration of the Forensic Dimension into Anti-Doping Strategies.

Abstract

Traditionally, research in anti-doping has been stimulated by the need for technological improvements to accommodate the expansion of the list of prohibited substances and methods. Nevertheless, in recent years, anti-doping found itself at a crossroads due to the increasing complexity and constant refinement of doping methods. As illustrated by the 2012 USADA (United States Anti-Doping Agency) versus Lance Armstrong case, a change in paradigm was necessary. The exploration of new scientific avenues to understand the mechanisms of doping and pinpoint its practice was most needed to allow designing more efficient preventive or disruptive strategies. In this context, and at the time of writing in 2017, transposing the concept of forensic intelligence to anti-doping was identified as a promising approach to address the different aspects of doping, from the individual athlete to organized doping and trafficking of substances in a proactive rather than a reactive way. Indeed, collection, structuring, and logical processing of multiple sources of information, and not strictly results of bioanalytical testing of urinary and blood samples, can bring additional value to detect and describe potential, emerging, or existing doping issues. This anti-doping intelligence can provide anti-doping authorities and relevant stakeholders with timely, accurate, and usable information for decision making to solve, reduce, and/or prevent doping-related activities. The integration of intelligence to complement other anti-doping approaches is a potentially major step forward in the development of more effective and robust anti-doping strategies.